Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA)

Purpose:

The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA) is a targeted, one-time initiative designed to recruit international or returning Canadian doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to Canada. These awards support key priority areas, helping to build capacity, strengthen the research ecosystem and enhance Canada’s global competitiveness. 

These awards are a part of the International Talent Attraction Strategy and Action Plan announced in Budget 2025 - Canada Strong, which committed $1.7 billion to the recruitment of international talent to Canada. Specifically, the Impact+ Research Training awards investment is $133.6 million to fund an additional 600 doctoral and 400 postdoctoral awards within the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS), administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This initiative aims to support the next generation of innovators by providing funding and high-quality research training, cultivating research skills, fostering creativity and empowering awardees to make significant contributions to Canada’s research ecosystem, economy and prosperity. 

The Impact+ Research Training Awards will invest in research in eight priority areas:

• Advanced digital technologies (including AI, quantum and cybersecurity)
• Health, including biotechnology
• Clean technology and resource value chains
• Environment, climate resilience and the Arctic
• Food and water security
• Democratic and community resilience
• Manufacturing and advanced materials
• Defense and dual-use technologies 

This is a one-time investment by the Government of Canada. There will be two waves of allocations to the university. The deadline below is for the first wave of allocations, with additional allocations for the second wave still to be announced but with an expected deadline in summer of 2026. York has received an allocation of 2 doctoral awards and 2 postdoctoral awards for the first wave.  At his time, it is uncertain if there will be an allocation for the second wave.

Nominations will be full-time faculty members with active TriCouncil Research Grants and must align with the identified priority areas. These are intended to be interpreted broadly so that relevant work from a range of disciplines aligned with any of the tri-council agencies may be considered. 

For more information, see the Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA) Q&A site.
Visit postdoctoral nomination information here and contact Nicole van Rootselaar, Internal, Postdoctoral & Undergraduate funding Research Facilitator, oris.internal@uleth.ca

Value: 

• $40,000 per year for 36 months (3 years) at the doctoral level
• $70,000 per year for 24 months (2 years) at the postdoctoral level 

Eligibility

• Can be Canadian citizens, permanent residents or international
• Nominees cannot have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution and must be currently studying or working abroad.
• Participation of Canadian citizens in this initiative is intended for those who have left Canada for research and/or work experience and who wish to return to Canada to continue their research.
• Nominees’ research areas must be within one of the eight priority research areas listed above.
• Must be eligible to enroll in a doctoral program at the nominating institution in Canada as of the award activation date.
• Cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or be on leave from such an appointment concurrently with the Impact+ training award (some exceptions apply; see the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for details).
• There is no limit on the number of months completed in a doctoral degree for eligibility to the Impact+ training awards. 

Application:

• Nominators (PIs) are asked to complete this Expression of Interest form by 8:30AM, January 20, 2026.

• Once your information is reviewed and it is confirmed that the Nominator and Nominee will meet the eligibility criteria, you will be invited to submit a full application later on Tuesday, January 20th. The internal deadline to submit a complete nomination package for ULethbridge's CIRTA allocation is February 13, 2026.

• Submissions will be adjudicated and successful nominators/nominees will be notified of their selection prior to submission of ULethbridge's nominations by March 4, 2026.

• Further details of the selection process, adjudication committee, and award criteria TBD.

• It is expected that nominators and nominees will be notified of the results by April 1, 2026, for the first wave of nominations. The release date for the results of the second wave will be announced at a later date. 

• If a nominee accepts an award, the relevant agency will publish their name and other basic award information on its website. 

Additional Information:

• Nominees can only be nominated by one nominator (cannot have multiple proposed supervisors or locations of tenure).
• International students/researchers already working or studying at a Canadian institution are not eligible for the Impact+ training awards. Instead, they can apply for the CGRS-D or CPRA.
• Nominees cannot be currently holding another scholarship or postdoctoral research award from the three agencies or be currently benefiting from tri-agency funds from a supervisor’s grant.
• Doctoral: Cannot have previously held doctoral-level scholarship from one of the three agencies.